Sandworms of Dune - Brian Herbert [201]
“They are my ships now,” Duncan said.
The female bashar did not flinch. “How do I know you’re not Face Dancers?”
Murbella answered, “Janess, when we stood against the thinking machines and discovered that Ixians and Face Dancers had deceived us, you and I were ready to throw away our lives in a final burst of glory. Don’t be so eager to die now that we finally have hope.”
The image of Janess stared at them from the viewing plate. Duncan was proud of his daughter’s caution. He said, “We will all meet in the great hall of the Keep. A good place for us to discuss the future.” He smiled wistfully. “I never actually saw the inside of the Keep when I was here. . . . I had to remain aboard the no-ship at all times.”
Janess hesitated just a moment longer, then nodded curtly. “We will have guards.”
Duncan already missed his no-ship comrades, but they had their own places to go now, important niches to fill. Paul and Chani would return to Arrakis, where they had always known they belonged. Jessica had chosen Caladan, and she surprised many by asking Yueh to go with her. And on Synchrony, Scytale’s nullentropy capsule still contained a wealth of cells, a treasure chest of prizes.
Duncan had already decided on the first request he would make of the Tleilaxu Master. The turmoil and changes, the repercussions and adaptations would last for decades, even centuries. He would value the assistance and advice of a great man. He needed Miles Teg at his side again. . . .
As the ship descended toward the main city on Chapterhouse, Duncan knew he could never think of this world as home, despite the time he’d spent there. In his genetic incarnations he had experienced many places and known innumerable people. Duncan’s developing prescience, and his mental connection to decillions of eyes spread across the cosmos and linked through the evermind’s tachyon net, made the entire universe his home now.
Now you begin to understand the fascinating obligation I helped you to assume, said a familiar-sounding voice in his mind. Erasmus! I could have made it much harder on you, Kwisatz Haderach. Instead, I cooperated. This is only an echo of me, an observer. You can access me as you like. Use my knowledge like a databank. A tool. I am curious to see what you will do.
“Are you haunting me now, like a demon?”
Consider me an advisor, but my research continues. I will always be here to guide you, and I am confident you will not let me down.
“Like the witches’ Other Memory, but far bigger, and more easily accessible.”
You are here to serve both humans and thinking machines—and the future. It is all under your command.
Duncan laughed softly to himself at the friendly bantering between the two of them. Though Erasmus was in a subservient position, he still had a bit of humanlike pride, even if he was only an echo, and an advisor.
Entering the Keep, Duncan and Murbella marched into the echoing great hall, side by side. Watcheyes followed them, along with a pair of sentinel robots. The robots greatly disturbed the people who waited there, but in the future humans must learn to set aside their fears and preconceptions.
Without Omnius, the thinking-machine empire continued to function but without a unified mind or mission. Duncan would direct them, but he refused to simply continue the endless cycle of enslavement. They had potential to be more than tools or puppets, more than just a destructive force. Some of the machines were merely that, but more sophisticated robots and advisory mechanisms could grow and develop into something far superior. Erasmus himself had become independent, developing a unique personality when he was isolated from the homogenizing influence of the evermind. With so many thinking machines spread across so many planets, other prominent figures would arise if given the opportunity. If guided. If Duncan allowed them.
He had to achieve a balance.
The Mother Commander’s imposing chair stood high and empty in front of a segmented window that looked out on the arid, dying landscape. Janess stood to one side, welcoming Murbella to